


The Biggest Adventure

by Aura_Wolf_Writes



Category: The Arcana (Visual Novel)
Genre: Babies, F/M, Pregnancy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-19
Updated: 2020-05-19
Packaged: 2021-03-02 20:33:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,490
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24272875
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Aura_Wolf_Writes/pseuds/Aura_Wolf_Writes
Summary: Parquer tries, unsuccessfully, to tell Julian that she is pregnant.
Relationships: Apprentice/Julian Devorak
Kudos: 43





	The Biggest Adventure

**Author's Note:**

> For Love Like Yours Fest.  
> Day 2: Say it like you mean it.
> 
> In this story, Parquer and Julian have been married for a few years.

Today is it. Today’s the day I’m going to tell him. I’ve been planning this all week. Well, that’s about as long as I’ve known, but still.

Now, I just had to find him. Sounds easy enough, but Julian isn’t always in the clinic, even when he’s supposed to be. \

Quickly, I put on a simple blue dress and parted my hair into pigtails. Then I stepped outside, closing the door to the shop as I left, and making sure it was locked. Thieves weren’t a problem, but if Julian came home and tried to get in, he would know I was out. I hoped anyway.

First stop, the bakery. The baker was already in on my plan, so he simply winked at me as I dropped by to pick up a loaf of my favorite bread. Winking back, I placed a few coins on the counter and headed off.

Next, I headed to Mazelinka’s house. Through some of her, contacts, she had been able to procure that smoky tea he was always going on about. There was a note on the door that said she was out, but if it was me, I could find the key in a plant by the door. I located the key, then opened the door, stepping inside. There on the table was a simply wrapped bag with a note. “This better work,” was all the note said.

I laughed as I took the small bag, placing it into the bag with the bread. Then I left, locking the door and putting the key back where I had found it.

Now to find Julian. Hopefully, he was at the clinic. If not, who knew where he might be.

I headed in the direction of the clinic, hoping that maybe if he had decided to leave, I would be able to catch him. As I rounded the corner in front of the clinic, I was slightly surprised to see that the sign outside his door said he was in. Of course, he was notorious for forgetting to change that sign around. I walked up to the clinic and knocked. I didn’t hear anything, so I slowly opened the door.

“Ah! Sorry! Just a moment.” I heard a voice say from the back.

I winced at the sound of crashing and swearing that followed. “Ah, Parquer. What brings you here?” he asked me, trying to casually lean against the door frame.

I chuckled a little. Whatever fall had just happened had knocked his eyepatch askew and gotten dust all over his clothes. “Just thought I’d visit you,” I said. “Looks like you’re not busy. Want to take a break? I bought bread.”

“Sure. I have a few errands to run if you don’t mind.” 

“Not at all. Where do you need to go?”

“Just follow me.”

Oh no. That was not a good sign. Hopefully not another one of his wild goose chases.

I took his hand as he locked the door. “The sign?” I said as he moved to walk away.

“Oh, right. Don’t know what I’d do without you dear.”

After ensuring that the sign indicated the clinic was closed, Julian and I headed off down the street hand in hand. After a few minutes, I realized we were approaching the coliseum. “Leeches?” I asked as we got closer.

“You know me too well darling. But also, Asra asked me to pick him up a few special ingredients. Said something about my knack for finding trouble, or something like that.”

“Oh? Interesting. What were the ingredients?” 

I listened carefully as Julian prattled off the ingredients. Most of those were basic components, mostly for protective charms. But one of the ingredients stuck out to me. Asra and I had used that ingredient in potions for many a young woman. Asra you sly fox.

I stood back as Julian lifted up the trap door to the Red Market, and followed him down to tunnels below. The leeches were easy enough. The leech vendor here, just like Julian’s supplier of regular leeches, knew him by name, and exactly what he was going to order. Most of the sellers down here knew Julian, or at least, knew of him. 

The magical ingredients were a bit harder to find. They were also a lot pricier. 

“Who’s buying?” asked the vendor selling the last ingredient we needed.

“The magician Asra,” I said.

“In that case, I’m going to have to turn you away. I’ve dealt with that one too many times.”

“What my lovely companion here meant to say is, I, Dr. Devorak, am here to buy this from you. The magician was simply helping me to find new medicinal properties for it.”

“Yeah, you’re on the list too. Especially not after last time.”

“We have lots of money,” Julian said, setting a bag of coins on the table.

“I told you, I don’t sell to you. I heard what you did to that apple vendor up topside.”

“I will pay,” I said, setting a bag of coins on the table.

“Yeah? And who are you? Bet you’re on the list.”

“I’m no one of importance,” I said, weaving a bit of magic into my words.

“No one of importance,” the vendor replied blankly. “Here’s what you're looking for then,” he said, handing me a small bag. 

“Thank you,” I said, taking my money, and leaving Julian’s bag, which more than likely contained mostly fake coins. But by the time the vendor realized, we’d be long gone.

“Pleasure doing business with you,” Julian said, catching on to what I was doing. Then he whisked me away. 

Just as we began to climb the ladder out, I heard a roaring yell as the spell wore off. Quickly, we climbed out and sprinted away from the coliseum. 

“Sorry I ruined your plans darling,” Julian said, trying to catch his breath. “Shall we find a gondola and sail around town for a bit?”

“That sounds lovely.” Not how I planned this going, but I could make this work.

We walked along the canals until we found a gondolier. Julian gave the man a few coins, and we set off. 

I pulled the bread out of my bag and handed Julian a piece. 

“I’ll never understand how they make this bread so good,” Julian said between bites.

“What if I told you it was magic?” I said, smirking.

“I might almost believe you dear.”

“Almost?”

“You smile when you lie.”

“Caught again. I don’t know much myself, but that’s half the fun.”

“I do like surprises,” he said, leaning back.

“Well, actually, there was something I wanted to tell you.”

“Tell away love.”

“I just found out.”

“Hold that thought. What do you say about a nice drink to wash that bread down? Gondolier, pull off here.”

The gondolier pulled off to the side, and Julian helped me out of the boat. We walked a few blocks, before finding ourselves in front of the Rowdy Raven. 

“Julian, I don’t think this is a good idea. I-”

“Nonsense. The Raven’s usually quiet this time of day anyways.”

It wasn’t quiet. The bar was packed with more people than I had ever seen. Still, Julian managed to find us a table. He flagged down the bartender and ordered two drinks for us. The bartender set them drinks down in front of us, then left to deal with the other customers.

Julian was halfway through the tankard when he realized I wasn’t drinking. “What’s wrong dear? I thought this one was your favorite?”

“It is. But I really shouldn’t be drinking right now.”

“Aw, are you worried about me? It’s fine. I can hold my liquor.”

“No. That’s not it. Julian, remember I was trying to tell you something earlier?”

“Yeah. Oh, sorry dear. Didn’t mean to interrupt you.”

“Julian. I’m pregnant.”

Suddenly the bar went dead quiet.

“Say that again?”

“Julian. We’re going to have a baby!”

“You’re? Really!”

“Yes!”

“Ah! Parquer! I can’t believe it!”

The bar patrons clapped, as Julian picked me up out of my seat, spinning me around.

“How long have you known?”

“About a week. I wanted to be sure.”

“I can’t believe it. I’m gonna be a dad! Oh, I can’t wait to see Pasha’s reaction.”

“Well, she kind of already knows.”

“What?”

“I had this whole thing planned out. Leave it to you to mess all that up. She was in on it. So was Asra, and Nadia, and the baker.”

“So Asra sending me to buy ingredients. Was that part of the plan?”

“No. I didn’t even know about that. But you know those magical ingredients we got?”

“Yeah?”

“Some of them are used to make potions to ensure a healthy delivery.”

Julian’s eyes went wide at this, causing me to laugh. “I still can’t believe it. A baby.”

“I know.”

“I think this is going to be the biggest adventure of all,” he said, hugging me close.


End file.
